Firmo

Sobre Firmo

Firmo is a Portuguese brand of stationery, school and office supplies, founded in Porto in 1951 by the Santos Carvalho family. Its origin lies in a restriction imposed by the Estado Novo. Manuel Carvalho was a primary school teacher who wanted to invest in a business tied to education, but his standing as a teacher barred him from forming a company. So he challenged his brothers Artur and Firmino to set up the business, joining it himself as a partner. The brand's name comes from Firmino dos Santos Carvalho. In the 1980s the factory moved to the industrial zone of Vila Nova de Gaia, in Pedroso, where it still operates. The capital is entirely Portuguese. Several of the company's products have crossed generations and became recognizable in themselves, before the name is even read: the Caderno Azul, the black-covered notebook, the blue-covered universitário spiral notebook, the sebenta — the lecture-notes pad every Portuguese student knows — and the Estudos drawing pad. Alongside that historic line there are now school supplies, office supplies, and drawing and craft items. Beyond the domestic market, the brand is present in England, Ireland, Spain, Morocco, Angola and Cabo Verde.